Ryan Whitwam - 14/30 - Android Police - Android News, Apps, Games, Phones, Tablets

Ryan is a freelance tech writer, skeptic, lover of all things electronic, and Android fan. In his spare time he reads golden-age sci-fi and sleeps, but rarely at the same time. His wife tolerates him as few would.

Follow @RyanWhitwam

Jan

Ant Raid Review: Lead Your Tiny Minions To Victory

Posted by Ryan Whitwam in Apps/Games, Games, Reviews

The comings and going of ants are rarely fodder for a good strategy game, but when you think about it, they're tailor made. Ants have lots of natural enemies, a hive-mind social structure for you to command, and ants don't take crap from anyone (ever step on an anthill?). In Ant Raid, you take command of a group of anthropomorphized ants under attack from all sides. Snails, wasps, and all manner of other small-stature troublemakers are out to destroy the colony, and you're the only one that can stop them.

Gameplay

Ant Raid has a very simple concept at its core: keep the colony alive.

Jan

[CES 2013] NVIDIA Announces Tegra 4-Powered "Project Shield" Handheld Gaming Console Running Pure Android

Posted by Ryan Whitwam in News, NVIDIA, Project Shield, Videos

After about 45 minutes of casual sexism and awkward pauses, NVIDIA's Jen-Hsun Huang dropped the bomb. Project Shield is a handheld gaming console running pure, unmodified Android (Jelly Bean). At its core is the newly-announced Tegra 4 ARM chip, but that's not all.

Update: Official video of Project Shield:

The device looks like a standard wireless controller with a flip-up screen. Around the back are I/O ports, and there's no proprietary nonsense here. HDMI, USB, microSD, and an audio jack. This isn't just a render, either – the device was shown off on stage. Jen-Hsun Huang used Project Shield to push a 4K video over HDMI to a 4K TV as well.

Jan

T-Mobile Bringing Unlimited 4G Data Plan To Prepaid Starting January 9th

Posted by Ryan Whitwam in News, T-Mobile

In this age of tiered data plans, an unlimited option is increasingly hard to come by. Well, little T-Mobile is looking to attract more customers by offering just that – an new unlimited data plan. The carrier already offers an unlimited option on its contract plans, but now that tier is being extended to its popular Monthly4G prepaid service.

The offering will come in at $70 per-month and replace the current $70 Unlimited talk/text and 5GB data plan. That's a pretty killer deal for anyone already paying for a 5GB soft-cap. This unlimited plan will allow users to pull down as many bytes as they like at full HSPA+ speeds.

Jan

Corning Announces Unveiling Of Gorilla Glass 3 At CES

Posted by Ryan Whitwam in News

What's that on your phone? Gorilla Glass 2? Psh, I guess that's alright for 2012, but Corning is about to make 2013 one whole digit more durable with Gorilla Glass 3. As is the tradition, Corning will be on hand at CES with Gorilla Glass 3 samples for the assembled press to beat up as a demonstration of its durability. How durable is it? Corning thinks it's pretty alright.

Corning's new strengthened glass has been tweaked at the molecular level to slow the spread of cracks and make scratches less visible. Corning calls this property Native Damage Resistance (NDR). Corning claims NDR will make devices three times more resistant to scratches, while offering a 40% reduction in visible scratches. So if your phone takes a nasty little tumble, the damage should remain localized rather than spreading out in the form of device-spanning cracks.

Jan

[Deal Alert] Droid RAZR HD Drops To Just $99 From Amazon Wireless For New Lines And Upgrades

Posted by Ryan Whitwam in News, RAZR HD / RAZR MAXX HD, RAZR M

If you've got some spare holiday cash burning a hole in your pocket, now might be the time to jump on the RAZR HD deal Amazon is offering. If you pick up the device from Amazon Wireless right now, it's only going to run you $99 – no matter if you're a new customer or not. Previously the device was priced at $130, and then only if you were new to Big Red.

The Droid RAZR HD might not have the massive battery of its beefier Maxx brother, but it's a fine device in its own right. The RAZR HD runs on a Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 chip, has 1GB of RAM, and 16GB of internal storage.

Jan

[New App] Zime Is A Stylish 3D To-Do Manager And Calendar App

Posted by Ryan Whitwam in Applications, Apps/Games, News

So maybe you made some resolutions this as the new year is upon us, but how are you supposed to keep track of all your resolution-related tasks with only two crummy dimensions? Hmm? Yeah, you're going to want at least three dimensions of to-do management, and that's where Zime comes in. This app is still in beta, but it's a really cool, flashy to-do list that relies on a gesture-controlled timeline view.

Zime automatically plugs into your Google Calendar and displays events in a smooth conveyor belt UI. You can add events on your Google Calendar from within Zime, but these are different from tasks on your Zime to-do lists.

Dec

Anomaly Korea Review: Tower Defense Is Dead – Long Live Tower Offense

Posted by Ryan Whitwam in Apps/Games, Game Reviews, Games, Reviews

You've probably played loads of tower defense games on Android. There's a reason they're so popular, though. See, tower defense games are fun and hard to screw up. Still, the same old thing can get boring after a while. So it's nice to see Anomaly Korea show up and continue turning the genre on its head like its predecessor did. In Anomaly Korea, you play the creeps trying to get past the towers.

Gameplay And Controls

The backstory is that the aliens have invaded and they are not the nice kind that want to invite us to join a galactic federation.

Dec

[Deal Alert] Register Your Galaxy S III Or Note II With Samsung And Get A Free Flip Case And TecTile NFC Stickers (US Only) [Update: All Gone]

Posted by Ryan Whitwam in Deals, Galaxy Note II, Galaxy S III, News

The holidays aren't over yet, and Samsung is playing Santa today if you have a US Galaxy S III or Note II. Just register the device with Samsung and you will get a free flip case worth $40 and 6 NFC TecTiles worth another $15. Not bad for doing almost no work.

All you have to do is install the Samsung Mobile Facebook app on your PC (yes, you have to use Facebook). Then just use the app to register your device and email address. You'll need the IMEI number, which can be obtained by dialing *#06#. An email should arrive in short order with links to claim your free cover and TecTiles.

Dec

[New App] Sing! Karaoke From Smule, The Maker Of Audiorap And Songify, Puts Your Voice To The Test

Posted by Ryan Whitwam in Applications, Apps/Games, News

Okay, get those pipes warmed up for the show. Sing! Karaoke has just dropped in Google Play and it's free to try. Don't worry if your friends and family flee from the room when you get up to sing – you can share your performance later via Facebook, Google+, Twitter, email, and SMS.

Sing! Karaoke includes all the songs the kids are into these days, but not all of them are available to sing for free. You can earn in-app currency by completing offers, or just pay for a subscription and get all the tunes. Once you choose a song, the app will scroll the lyrics and display pitch lines to help you (maybe) sound less terrible.

Dec

[New App] Kii Keyboard Is An Input Alternative With Tons Of Customization

Posted by Ryan Whitwam in Applications, Apps/Games, News

Last Updated: January 2nd, 2013

Google has really gotten the stock Android keyboard spruced up in recent versions of the OS. Of course, it's still a limited experience lacking in the bells and whistles of some third-party solutions. Speaking of bells and whistles, the new Kii Keyboard has more tweaks and settings than you'll believe.

Kii takes some of the most popular features from the established keyboards. It has swipe input like the Swype keyboard, word prediction like SwitfKey, and a split layout for tablets like you get in several other apps. Want Emoji? Kii has so much Emoji you'll [hamburger] your [football].